Flying

Considering that the fractional-aircraft field was borne of a new business model and has been around for more than 20 years, it is perhaps surprising that the basic structure remains fundamentally unchanged: you purchase a share of an aircraft from the provider at a premium; you pay management fees, hourly rates and fuel surcharges; and at the end of your contract, you sell your share back to t

What can you do now to increase your survival chances should the unthinkable occur on one of your flights? "Be aware and be prepared is the best advice I can give a passenger," said Cyndee Irvine, who was a PSA Airlines flight attendant for 10 years and has been a contract flight attendant for the past decade.

Manned flight in powered aircraft was only 15 years old when the idea of carrying mail in airplanes seemed doable to the bureaucrats in Washington. The airplane's success during the Great War in Europe-still ongoing- showed a promise of peacetime applications. So it happened on May 1, 1918, that the U.S.

When French airframer EADS Socata unveiled a souped-up version of its venerable TBM 700 single-engine turboprop in 2005, it billed the aircraft as the "anti-very light jet." Indeed, the TBM 850 will carry more payload, fly farther and typically complete a 500-mile trip about as quickly as a twinjet VLJ. It will also burn only about half the fuel and climb like a rocket.

When Gulfstream purchased Galaxy Aerospace in 2001 for $330 million, the deal was sort of the aviation equivalent of the reality television show Flip This House. With an eye to quick profit, an investor on the show snaps up a distressed property he thinks needs only new paint, then discovers the place is infested with termites and has a rotting roof. Whoops.

In the 1990s, a booming economy created fertile ground for fractional flying, a new form of private air travel that providers touted as having predictable costs and being much less expensive than full ownership.

Aircraft cabin pressure often receives blame for passenger discomfort, from mental and physical fatigue to nausea, headaches and malaise. And while some justification exists for such claims, the subject is complicated.

Simply put, air charter is the front door for all things at the business aircraft level in general aviation. It precedes fractional ownership. It stimulates full aircraft ownership. The jet card programs couldn't exist without it. And for the manufacturers it represents a free "demo" program for their products.

Before you fly, take a moment to consider whether you risk spreading disease to fellow passengers-or vice versa. "People know tuberculosis, colds and flu are contagious," said Dr. David Streitwieser, medical director for MedAire's MedLink Service.

Quote/Unquote

“[New billionaires in fast-growing countries] have to buy longer-range airplanes. If you’re flying from Mongolia to Nigeria, it’s either a three-day journey flying commercial or a nine-hour flight on your jet.”